Suggestions

Musi, Nicolas

School of Medicine
Medicine
210 562-6140
musi@uthscsa.edu

My research program involves a combination of human, animal, and cell culture approaches to tackle questions related to (i) the regulation of glucose metabolism;(ii) molecular biology and pathophysiology of insulin resistance and sarcopenia; and (iii) effects of exercise on glucose and lipid metabolism at the whole-body and cellular levels. I am an active educator and research mentor, and supervise clinical and research fellows, residents, and graduate students.

Exercise Physiology

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We are interested in elucidating the molecular mechanism by which contractile activity and exercise improve physical performance and whole-body metabolism in the context of aging and diabetes. Ongoing studies are examining the role of the AMPK-PGC1 and the TLR4-NFkB pathways on the adaptations to exercise training.

Metabolism, Diabetes, Aging

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We aim to delineate the effect of normal aging on the molecular pathways that control metabolism. Also, we work to elucidate the molecular alterations that increase the risk of metabolic disorders and disability relevant to aging, including diabetes, obesity and sarcopenia. We perform our research utilizing cell cultures and animal (rodent) models, and also conduct investigations in human subjects.

Date

Description

Institution

# Students

- Present

UTHSCSA

4/2014 - Present

Pre-Doctoral Student Supervision

UTHSCSA

6/2013 - Present

Pre-Doctoral Student Supervision

UTHSCSA

6/2012 - Present

Pre-Doctoral Student Supervision

UTHSCSA

3/2011 - Present

Biology of Aging

The University of Texas Health Science Center

8 students

1/2010 - Present

Membership on Supervising Committee

UTHSCSA

6/2009 - Present

Post-Doctoral Student Supervision

UTHSCSA

6/2008 - Present

Pre-Doctoral Student Supervision

UTHSCSA

4/2008 - Present

Post-Doctoral Student Supervision

UTHSCSA

2/2008 - Present

Pre-Doctoral Student Supervision

UTHSCSA

3/2007 - Present

Post-Doctoral Student Supervision

Texas Diabetes Institute-UTHSCSA

1/2006 - Present

Clinical Endocrinology

The University of Texas Health Science Center

Discussed clinical cases with medical students and taught different concepts of basic and clinical endocrinology.

Federal

Funding Agency

NIH/NIA

Title

San Antonio Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Biology of Aging

Status

Active

Period

7/2015 - 6/2020

Role

Co-Principal Investigator

Grant Detail

The purpose of the Nathan Shock Center is to support aging research at the Health Science Center by providing core services that are of exceptional interest to researchers in the biology of aging.
Role: Core Director, Healthspan Core

he central premise underlying the proposed San Antonio Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (OAIC) is that we are at a point in the history of aging research when there are scientifically valid anti-aging therapies to test in humans. We propose an Intervention Program that will move forward discoveries obtained in rodents to the pre-clinical arena using a non-human primate model, the common marmoset, and from the pre-clinical arena to humans through randomized clinical studies. Our Center will provide investigators with state-of-the-art scientific infrastructure and services that are required in developing innovative interventions which target the aging process and aging-related diseases. Initially, a major focus will be on pharmacologic interventions, however, regenerative and gene transfer interventions also will be tested as they become available. The Specific Objectives of the OAIC are: 1. To provide support, through Resource Core (RC)-1, to pre-clinical studies in non-human primates to investigate the mechanism of action, efficacy, and tolerability of aging interventions. This Core also will provide functional assessment (healthspan) services and will determine the effect of interventions on lifespan. 2. RC-2 will provide human clinical research and pharmacology services to studies of interventions aimed at preventing physiological decline and aging-related diseases. Services provided by this core include subject recruitment, compliance, and procedures to assess physical performance, cognition, glucose metabolism, vascular function, atherosclerosis, exercise tolerance, gait, balance, imaging, and specimen (blood, muscle, fat) processing. This core also performs pharmacokinetic human studies. 3. To provide, through the Biostatistics Core (RC3), expertise in data entry systems, data quality control, data security, and state of the art quantitative and qualitative analytic and medical informatics strategies. 4. To provide assistance to faculty for

Funding Agency

NIDDK

Title

Role of TLR4 on insulin resistance in human subjects

Status

Active

Period

9/2014 - 9/2018

Role

Principal Investigator

Grant Detail

The purpose of this study is to determine the role of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) on insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in human subjects.

Funding Agency

NIH/NIA

Title

Training Grant on the Biology of Aging

Status

Active

Period

5/2013 - 4/2018

Role

Principal Investigator

Grant Detail

The primary goal of this training grant is to intellectually prepare both graduate students and postdoctoral fellows for careers as leaders in basic biological research in aging. This training grant supports 10 predoctoral and 6 postdoctoral trainees who participate in projects involving genetics of aging; free radical biology, DNA repair; aging of endocrine and immune systems; apoptosis; and the molecular aspects of age-associated diseases such as diabetes, sarcopenia, cancer, and AD.

Funding Agency

NIDDK

Title

Effect of aging on glucose and lipid metabolism in human muscle

Status

Active

Period

7/2010 - 8/2015

Role

Principal Investigator

Grant Detail

This project will examine how aging affects the the AMPK-PGC-1 signaling play in human muscle. Using an extracellular flux analyzer (Seahorse) and high-resolution respirometry (Oroboros), also we are examining the effect of aging on fat oxidation and mitochondrial function in human muscle. Lastly, we are employing a primary cell culture system to test whether age-related metabolic and bioenergetic alterations can be reversed by upregulating the AMPK-PGC-1 axis through adenoviral-mediated transduction of myofibers and pharmacologic agents

Funding Agency

National Institute on Aging

Title

A Transdisciplinary Approach to Engage Specialty Investigators in Aging Research

Status

Active

Period

9/2011 - 7/2014

Role

Co-Investigator

Grant Detail

The purpose is to hold three research agenda setting meetings sponsored by the Association of Specialty Professors (ASP) from 2012 through 2014 in the areas of solid organ transplantation in elderly patients, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular complications in seniors, and wound healing and tissue regeneration in older adults. Using the meetings as a vehicle, ASP will focus on raising the profile of geriatrics and gerontology in key disciplines by engaging with vital researchers in each specialty as well as rising junior faculty stars in the specialty.

Private

Funding Agency

American Diabetes Association

Title

Mechanism of microbiome-induced insulin resistance in humans

Status

Active

Period

7/2013 - 6/2016

Role

Principal Investigator

Grant Detail

This study will combine in vivo interventions in human subjects aimed at reducing plasma level of endotoxin (LPS), with primary human muscle cell cultures, to examine the role that the microbiome and metabolic endotoxemia play on the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and define the molecular mechanisms by which the microbiome regulate glucose metabolism

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